H: Hubs, Wheels and Tyres Paul Packman Front Brakes

[ah_sprite]

Hi all

I have a Series C Twin fitted with Paul Packman's excellent front brake setup. It had been fitted to the bike before my time, the bike was previously owned and restored by Colin Pearson - both were in the W. London section.

The brakes have been absolutely fantastic but I haven't got a diagram or information on the setup, other than a receipt for the parts - I wondered if there was anything floating about? Unsure if Paul is still active in the VOC otherwise would try and contact him directly!

Cheers
Richard

 

[Simon Dinsdale]

I have two sets of Paul's brakes that I bought from him as unmachined casting a few years ago. Paul provided me with the engineering drawings for the parts and I machined one set up and they are fitted to my Rapide and the 2nd set I need to finish sometime. Paul never provided any setup instructions, just the parts drawings and I know he was concerned about liability etc so asked me not to post them anywhere.

I have not spoken to Paul for a few years so don't know if he is still active.

Simon

 

[Peter Holmes]

Paul is in my section, West London, last year we celebrated Paul’s 91st birthday with his family, it was originally supposed to be his 90th birthday celebration, but Covid disrupted that, so it was moved on a year. Considering Paul is in his 92nd year he is doing very well indeed, he sometimes joins us on club night when he drives to few miles from his home to our club night venue. I think at the moment, and following an operation Paul was finding the Vincent Rapide a little heavy, but he is determined to ride it again sometime soon.
He did purchase a Honda GB500 to extend his riding days, it is a lighter machine than the Vincent, but whatever bike Paul owns, he sets about improving it, as he did with his Vincent, Matchless and Honda.
I somehow missed out on a set of Paul’s TLS Front brakes, which I regret now they are no longer available, I believe they were excellent, looked right and were well engineered.

 

[Peter Holmes]

Hi all

I have a Series C Twin fitted with Paul Packman's excellent front brake setup. It had been fitted to the bike before my time, the bike was previously owned and restored by Colin Pearson - both were in the W. London section.

The brakes have been absolutely fantastic but I haven't got a diagram or information on the setup, other than a receipt for the parts - I wondered if there was anything floating about? Unsure if Paul is still active in the VOC otherwise would try and contact him directly!

Cheers
Richard

The Vincent you own should be a good one, I remember Colin Pearson owning it, would I be right in describing as a Shadowised Rapide, when Colin owned it he did the end to end run on it, John O Groats to Lands End, that would have been some years ago now, maybe twenty, I do not know who has owned the bike in the interim period. Colin, who served as our section leader for a while, West London Section, is sadly no longer with us.

 

[ah_sprite]

Thanks both for the replies.

I bought the bike from Colin and Eva a number of years ago, via the Spares Co. You're absolutely right - it's a really very well built Shadowised Rap that has been almost completely trouble free during my ownership. It's everything I could have hoped for and more!

Colin's obituary was published in MPH three or four years ago, along with a picture of him and the bike at John o'Groats. I believe he also travelled throughout Europe and certainly wasn't afraid of using his machine. It has an incredibly quiet motor which is often commented on!

It's good to hear that Paul Packman is still around - it would be good to make some contact with him to see about the possibility of seeing some parts diagrams/at least a drawing of the setup or any notes he has made on them. If you could pass on my good compliments on the setup next time you see him, it would be greatly appreciated!

I've had a very hectic couple of years, not helped by somehow badly slipping a disc which required surgery last summer, but hoping to get back out on the bike this year to a few VOC events.

 

[Peter Holmes]

I would like to assume that Paul will turn up at one of our section meetings this year, if he does I will ask him if he still has any information on his brakes, but I am not certain there will be much to be gained, I very much doubt that Paul would have any spare parts, should any ever be needed, and setting them up, or getting the shoes relined should be standard procedure as for any brakes. I do know that Paul made the casting patterns, had the plates and presumedly the shoes cast up, machined them himself, and made all the ancillary parts.